Graham moved the New Year's Eve runs to the Kaiser this year, and started a new tradition (returning for '80, '81, '82, & '86). As with most NYE runs, the best shows were before NYE itself (and in this case the 28th is also one of the year's best). This night was a SEVA show [for those that don't know, it's a developing world eyesight foundation started by band friend Wavy Gravy and others. They would play "SEVA shows" for no pay, donating the proceeds, much like later shows for their own Rex Foundation]. The soundcheck is interesting, including then-abandoned Brokedown and Black Throated Wind, only one of which was tackled for the show. This was the first full-show release in the Dick's Picks series.

First Set. Out t'gate with a great Cold Rain & Snow. Check Bobby's rhythm on the era's best version. See, See Rider Blues is the 2nd ever, already pretty good, though they didn't play it again for 6mos. The SBD has a cut at the beginning of a Me & My Uncle that's a nice, emphatic set punch up ("left him lying there"). Big River showcases how great the drummers are in this set. The official cuts the first few secs of a Minglewood that fires all cylinders. The SBD again cuts the beginning of the next three: a Friend that's smoother than a Zamboni on cannabutter, an unexpectedly strong Looks Like Rain, and an Alabama that's perhaps the first great one (Bobby's guitar is louder on the SBD than the OFF). Maybe it's not Jer's best playing, but it's one of the most raucous and it catapults Bobby into Promised Land. On the latter the OFF has the better mix, though it cuts off "Go out and buy a T-shirt".

Second Set. The SBD has glitches on Uncle John's. Both casual and coruscating, it's great the whole way through. Estimated is just a little flubby and though it doesn't reach the heights of 10/25, 11/4, or 11/5, it has a welcome jam (where Brent sounds like Tony Kaye), that makes this 20min version the longest [?]. Jer tries for Eyes at one point. Older SBDs have a 1 :04 cut @16:05. On an average He's Gone, Jer's guitar is louder on the SBD, but the OFF has more Brent. The Other One has some anomalies on the OFF (not on SBD). There is reverb/echo on the AUDs (FOH) for Drums, and panning on the SBD. Neither are present on the OFF, and the SBD mix is significantly better, as well as for Space. However the OFF has Bobby's guitar audible for Not Fade Away. It has just one verse, the rest is a jam. As practiced, Brokedown returns after a year and a half (1st for Brent). They keep it uptempo, which is good for this set position. It sounds like one of the drummers wants a Samson, but it's a rather loose double Berries instead, featuring Bobby on hiccups/seizure. Shakedown doesn't impress at first, but they tighten up deep in the jam, spurred by Brent's nutty goodness. The UJB reprise has "this is the Dead" written all over its face.

1st Set:  A-
2nd Set: B-
Overall = 4 Stars

Highlights:
Whole 1st set
Uncle John's Band - casual and coruscating, plus reprise
Space - a decade ahead

SOURCES: Best 1st set AUD is scotton_miller_89187, which also has the best soundcheck. Best second set AUD is 128505.naks (others have speed/pitch errors). Soundcheck is muffled on miller_17418. The evans_gems_81323 SBD has a better image in places than the wider official, but runs slightly fast, needing -1% pitch correction from Alabama (except for patches). The 150235-s2-sbd-miller updates second set quality. The show is complete on Dick's 5 (different recording than soundboard, though not listed as a Betty Board). The SBD also has different tunings than the OFF, and you may want to switch channels on both.

mcgrupp216 - looked amiss because stars rating was ok but set grade had a typo and review was missing (brought to my attention by several!). Still, weighing the balance, not my fave 2nd set of the month; to me, falls off after Estimated and more after Space, compared to era best, until encore

Well OK, some sloppy moments, but for sure this is a crazy high energy show with lots of incredible jamming. Phil just thumping away, Jerry out there on interstellar overdrive, and the rest of the boys riding the edge, keeping the train from jumping the tracks, while the forces tear lose from the axis. The Estimated > Caution > He’s Gone > TOO is worth 100X the price of admission alone....

Franklin's Tower, that's definitely one way of putting it! Although, I must say, I've grown to enjoy Mind Wondrin's reviews, even if I can't for the life of me get that grading system. (Or - perhaps more accurate, and simply put - just plain disagree with them.) No way this second set is a C-. If anything, I'd reverse the set scoring- but let's not get crazy. The whole show - from start to finish - is amazing. First set positively bounces. No question, though, in my mind, the second is even better. I first heard this classic encore on David Gans' GD hour back in the day. Super funky Shakedown with the UJB reprise that really ties the second set (and show) together. As many have noted, too, this is the first Pick from the Brent years- in the end, there would only be five. Official release is a Betty Board and I'm sort of surprised that it hasn't surfaced here yet. Oh, and yes, it's the first full show, no filler. Note well: There's a reason for that.  

Other notes of interest: This is the only UJB-reprise that I'm aware of to close out a show. Played plenty as an encore, especially in '73 and '77, it also makes a few appearances on the latter end of those classic PITB sandwiches from '73 (I have in mind 11/10 and 11/17, but also 3/23/74). (Others worth checking: 6/8/80, 8/21/80, 9/6/80, 7/10/81, 9/9/82, 10/12/84, 3/30/88.) This show is the fifth highest rated among dead base's "Favorite Tapes" of '79 (behind only 10/27, 12/1, 2/17, and 12/28). Last, it's heavily represented among headyversion reviewers in the know: Cold Rain and Snow (#4), C. C. Rider (#3), Alabama (#1), Promised Land (#5), UJB (#2). Estimated (#2), and Shakedown (#8).

Auditorium & Kaiser are same venue. Was last shows with free camping at venue. 12th Ave got of the hook that week.

You are bi-polar or something if you think this is a C- show that's absurd!

never really gave this show much of a listen before. but since choices of what to spin on this day in GD history were limited, I jumped ahead a few days.
AUD sounds great, I'm kinda amazed at how good this tape is, considering it was 1979.

One note, the Brokedown is awesome. Slow enough to be soulful but sped up enough not to be a drag on the set. It's the perfect Brokedown.

Listen to this source.

Another example of how a good audience recording is a wonderful thing. The quiet reverence for Brokedown is distincly noticeable. And who doesn't love a little Brokedown Palace? Unusual in later years that it is not an encore. Top 3 encores? Brokedown Palace, Bid you Goodnight, It's All Over Now, Baby Blue, in no particular order. Thank you all, and, good night.

Oh, and waiting until the encore to reprise Uncle John's Band!

No one seems to've commented on the BTW soundcheck, with a hiatus of 10/19/74-03/16/90. Was Bobby just fooling around, or maybe he felt it wasn't up to snuff.

I've listened to this 2nd set as much as any piece of music to which I've ever listened. First heard it in '84 on one of the worst sounding cassettes in the history of the universe. Slowly through the years I upgraded a couple of times to better sounding audience recordings. Then came Dick's Picks - I expected the Holy Grail. For the most part I was satisfied, but for one problem. Brent's organ on Not Fade Away was buried in the mix. If you've only heard the Dick's Picks version of this show, please check this version out - Brent's organ in it's full glory is here complimenting some wonderful interplay by the band on a stellar one versed NFA.

This 2nd set has my very favorite Estimated, Drums, Space, Brokedown, heck I even love Round and Round from this show.

Additionally Uncle John's, He's Gone,Shakedown and NFA are also like in my top 3-5 versions of these songs.

Could anybody do a matrix of this to get that organ on board with a soundboard? I would if I knew how.

check the ultra funky shakedown. This show is Dicks Picks 5, the first one with Brent.

I was at this run of shows 12/26-12/31. Up front close and personal for the first night. This show was on fire from the first note to the last. This recording is fine and I appreciate being able to listen to it 32 years later, even though it's a Dick's Pick, as some copies of those are not available on this site.

Highlights of the show are subjective: One of the best Alabama Getaway>Promised Lands, Fantastic, possible best ever Estimated, and the Shakedown back into Uncle John's is a perfect ending to the show. Brokedown Palace hadn't been played in sometime, and following a extended jam in Not Fade Away was SWEET!

Enjoy the music...looking forward to FURTHUR in a few nights!

this is a pretty good sounding audience recording. its nowhere near as good as say 8/6/71 or 10/14/83 (then again, few are) with the instruments not being very up front in the mix, but i'm also much more familiar with the DP version of this.

despite being a bit sloppy in execution, the jamming in this show during the 2nd set is great and defiantly makes up for it. it's certainly far more entertaining than that of 12/28/79, which has plenty of off playing and boring jams besides. i like that this recording lists the jam after estimated as a 'caution jam' b/c it is not listed on the dicks pick and i distinctly hear phil's bass twinges stinkin' of that one...

This show also premiered the first of the great Meyer/UltraSound PAs. Excerpt from http://mixonline.com/live/applications/audio_necessity_mothers_invention/

As it turned out, for the grand experimenters, even the best rental systems didn't suffice. For the Dead's 1979 New Years Eve show at Oakland Auditorium, Healy and Starship soundman Don Pearson pooled their favorite components. The resulting five-way stereo system took days to assemble. Among other features, it had specially welded frames that held giant tweeter arrays. Horseshoe magnets served as air-motion [ribbon] transformers that were assembled in long vertical arrays and hung from scaffolding. Pearson says, “We built custom crossovers so we could align the individual components in time. It was, actually, the first-ever Time-Aligned™ live sound system.” [Eds. note: Time-Aligned™ is a trademark of E.M. Long and Associates.] It was also, according to Healy, such a great-sounding system that “we decided to get back into the business.”

“It was probably the best-sounding P.A. we ever did — to date!” adds Pearson. “It's interesting to note that back then we were working on a technology design that just now is becoming very in vogue. We're currently seeing the advent of ribbon speakers, something we were using in 1978!”

The system put together that night evolved into a company owned by Pearson and Howard Danchik that serviced both the Dead and Starship. In 1979, Meyer's newly patented ACD studio monitors caught the ears of Starship and their monitor mixer, Owsley Stanley; the reaction was immediate. “Owsley went out and raised capital for us to build the first Ultra Monitors for Starship,” says Pearson. “They were John Meyer's first official product. Then we built Starship a P.A. and then the Dead had to have one.”

I was at this show and it is still one of my most favorite shows. I have read many differing views about the Dead written on this site. Through the late 70's and late 80's Jerry had his issues, and he fought his demons,sometimes he won, sometimes he lost, but one thing still stands true about the Dead, no matter how many times Jerry forgot the words, Bobby missed his cues, when you caught that magical show,like I did with this one there was no better show anywhere in the world. One thing that always has to be remembered about the Dead, They are not the best at what they did, they were the only ones that did what they did. Me, I am Grateful I got to see them when I did, but I am equally Grateful to have a site like this.

And he said, 'ye must go forth and listen'

I can't believe there are no reviews on this show (well, there's one now). The names Joani Walker and Charlie Miller should give notice that this is something above the ordinary, and it is. Joani's AUD is typically outstanding.

Some AUDs make you feel like you're at a show, it's true -- albeit as if you were "there" behind a closed door...backstage. Not here.

Most people know this show well from DP#5, so I won't say too much about the performance, except that the band is really on and tight. Jerry's singing is magnificent -- just listen to Dire Wolf. The sound on DP#5 is great, but so is this. Do yourself a favor and give this a listen.